BusinessWeek reports that the European market for second-hand wind turbines is blossoming as communities hurry to meet the European Union’s renewable energy goals amid a shortage of new equipment. And the demand for used equipment from utilities in eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America is growing, too. Fortunately, veteran wind generators in Spain and Germany are beginning a five-year plan to transition to newer equipment. ”That means more than 5,000 secondhand machines are expected to go on the market by 2013,” quoth BusinessWeek writer Mark Scott. Profiting from used equipment also means that utilities ultimately pay less to upgrade to new, more efficient turbines.

While buyers of used turbines accept some risks — expired warranties, potential repair costs, no telling if the miles on the odometer were city or highway — at least one company, Windbrokers, now offers assurances on the reconditioned turbines it sells. That should help some tire-kickers on the lot commit to giving wind power a spin.

Tags: BusinessWeek, used wind turbines

Author: Leah Kauffman

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 3:41 pm and is filed under wind. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.